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SummerSlam (1995)
SummerSlam (1995) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It was the eighth annual SummerSlam event. It took place on August 27, 1995 at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The main event that was for the WWF Championship competed between Diesel and King Mabel. Diesel retained the championship, pinning Mabel after performing a clothesline off the second rope. There were three matches on the undercard that had more build-up than other matches: The Undertaker defeated Kama in a Casket match; Bret Hart defeated Isaac Yankem by disqualification after Yankem and Jerry Lawler attacked Hart while Hart was in the "hangman" position. The third match on the undercard that had significant build-up was Shawn Michaels versus Razor Ramon in a feud for the WWF Intercontinental Championship. The two faced in a Ladder match, with Michaels retaining the title. The pay-per-view received a 0.9 buyrate, equivalent to approximately 360,000 buys. Although this was up on the buyrate for the In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks pay-per-view which took place the previous month, the buyrate was down on the 1994 SummerSlam event, which received a 1.3 buyrate, equivalent to 520,000 buys. Background The most prominent feud heading into the pay-per-view was between then-WWF Champion Diesel and King of the Ring winner Mabel, who was accompanied to his matches by manager and tag team partner Mo. King Mabel, the "heel" superstar, earned the right to be called "King" after winning the King of the Ring tournament, defeating "face" superstar Savio Vega in the final. As part of his King of the Ring victory, the King Mabel character received a push from the WWF creative team, resulting in a WWF Championship match at the SummerSlam pay-per-view. During Diesel's Lumberjack match with "heel" wrestler Sycho Sid, at In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks, King Mabel, who was one of the lumberjacks intervened, tossing Diesel into the steel steps on the outside of the ring. Despite Mabel's interference, Diesel kept the title, performing a big boot; pinning Sid to win the bout. On the August 7 edition of RAW, Diesel faced King Mabel's manager, Sir Mo. Diesel gained the early advantage, but Mable appeared at ringside, distracting Diesel. Moments later, Shawn Michaels appeared at ringside to support Diesel. Diesel won the match, powerbombing Mo. After the contest, Mabel attacked Diesel, performing a clothesline and a leg drop to damage the champion. Mabel then proceeded to attack Michaels, who was ringside supporting Diesel. On the last RAW before SummerSlam, commentator Vince McMahon interviewed Diesel regarding his SummerSlam title defense. Halfway through the interview, Davey Boy Smith (one half of the tag team The Allied Powers alongside Lex Luger) appeared and suggested a tag team match, with the two teaming up against Men on a Mission. Diesel and Smith had the early advantage in the match, but Smith turned on Diesel, siding with Men on a Mission, leading to a three-on-one assault to the champion. , who was Kama's storyline manager during his feud with The Undertaker]] The feud between The Undertaker and Kama, who was a member of the Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation had been running since WrestleMania XI. Both men had managers; The Undertaker's manager was Paul Bearer, while the Corporation's manager was Ted DiBiase. Undertaker was portrayed as the "face" wrestler, with Kama portrayed as the "villain" wrestler. The feud began at WrestleMania XI, when, during Undertaker's match with King Kong Bundy, Kama jumped over the barricade, attacking Bearer, running off with the urn on behalf of DiBiase. The urn was carried around as part of the gimmick Bearer was playing of being Undertaker's manager. While heading backstage after stealing the urn, Kama declared in an interview with Jim Ross that he would "melt down the urn". The remains of the urn were revealed by Kama as a necklace prior to his match with Scott Taylor on the April 10 edition of ''RAW''. Kama won the match, pinning Taylor. After WrestleMania, Undertaker wasn't seen on WWF television until the April 23 edition of ''Action Zone'' when he defeated Sycho Sid, another member of DiBiase's Corporation, via countout. On the May 7 edition of ''Wrestling Challenge'' a black wreath was left at ringside for Kama. Kama attacked the wreath at ringside, and after defeating Buck Zumhofe, he stuffed part the wreath in Zumhofes mouth. A black wreath was also left at ringside for Kama on the June 12 edition of RAW. After defeating jobber David Haskins, Kama attacked the wreath, only to realize it was a mannequin. The two wrestled numerous times at house shows, and in dark matches after live television shows had finished recording throughout June and July. On WWF television shows including RAW, Undertaker and Kama advanced to the latter stages of the King of the Ring tournament. At the King of the Ring pay-per-view event Kama faced Shawn Michaels in the Quarter-Finals of the tournament. A wreath was ringside for the whole of the match, which ended in a draw. The Undertaker also advanced in the tournament, facing Mabel in the Quarter-Finals. Towards the end of the contest, Undertaker was thrown into the referee by Mabel, forcing the referee to the ground. While the referee was injured on the ground, Kama interfered, kicking Undertaker in the face. Mabel followed up with a leg drop, pinning Undertaker to win the match. Kama tried to attack Undertaker after the bout, but Undertaker chased him backstage. The two continued to wrestle together in matches at house shows, with the two facing each other in preparation for their SummerSlam bout. In the weeks following, wreaths were placed at ringside during matches involving Kama, with Kama proceeding to assault them after his matches. On the August 21, 1995 edition of RAW, storyline WWF president Gorilla Monsoon announced that the match between Undertaker and Kama was now a casket match instead of a standard one-on-one singles match. On the August 26 edition of ''Superstars of Wrestling'', Undertaker was interviewed at ringside by Dok Hendrix regarding his match at SummerSlam with Kama. , who defended the WWF Intercontinental Championship against Razor Ramon at SummerSlam 1995]] One of the undercard feuds surrounded "face" superstar Shawn Michaels and his newly-won WWF Intercontinental Championship. Michaels won the title off Jeff Jarrett at the In Your House 2 pay-per-view, pinning Jarrett after a Superkick. Michaels at the pay-per-view also played a part in the Lumberjack main event match between Diesel and Sycho Sid for the WWF Championship. Michaels, who was one of Diesel's lumberjacks, performed a double axe handle off the top rope onto Sid on the outside of the ring, helping Diesel retain the title. This was revenge for the assault from Sid a few months earlier—Sid powerbombed Michaels three times on the April 3 edition of RAW, putting him, as part of the storyline, on the sidelines for six weeks. Sid, on the July 24 edition of Raw, declared revenge for Michaels' storyline actions at the pay-per-view. Towards the end of the broadcast, commentator Jerry Lawler stated that he wanted a shot at Michaels title. As a result of Sid's comments, a match was announced between Sid and Michaels at SummerSlam. Michaels, on the July 31 edition of RAW, challenged Lawler to a match on the August 7 edition of RAW, which Lawler accepted. In a sudden change of booking direction, however, the Sid versus Michaels match scheduled for SummerSlam was scrapped, and replaced with Michaels defending the Intercontinental Championship in a ladder match against another "face" superstar, Razor Ramon despite no on-screen buildup between the two. After the Sir Mo versus Diesel bout on the August 7 edition of RAW, Michaels attempted to attack Lawler, only to be held back by officials. Michaels eventually faced Lawler on the August 14 edition of RAW, during which, Sid came down to ringside. Sid attempted to interfere late on in the contest with a clothesline, but Michaels ducked to avoid the move, performing a Superkick to Sid. Sid and Lawler manage to regain the upper-hand, with Sid chokeslamming Michaels. Ramon ran-in to help Michaels, performing his finisher, the Razor's Edge. This led to a staredown between SummerSlam opponents Michaels and Ramon, leading to the two fighting each other, in which Ramon got the upper-hand in, grounding Michaels. Despite having his SummerSlam match dropped, Sid was granted a title match, to face whoever the champion was on the September 11 edition of RAW. , who faced Isaac Yankem, D.D.S. at SummerSlam 1995]] "Face" superstar Bret Hart had been feuding with "heel" part-time superstar and commentator Jerry Lawler for two years when they faced each other at the King of the Ring pay-per-view. Hart won the contest, and as part of pre-match stipulations which stated the loser must kiss the winners feet, Lawler was forced to kiss Hart's feet despite Hakushi (who faced Hart at In Your House 1) trying to intervene to stop him. The following night, on the June 26 edition of RAW, footage was shown of Lawler visiting his doctor, Isaac Yankem, D.D.S. Yankem revealed to Lawler that he had a past as a professional wrestler. This began a storyline, with Lawler attempting to get revenge for Hart's victory at King of the Ring. In the weeks following, footage is shown from Yankem's office of him treating his patients, including Lawler, with Lawler asking the patients which wrestlers they like and dislike. On the July 24 edition of RAW, Hart successfully beat Hakushi. After the bout, Hart assaulted Hakushi's manager Shinja, performing a Piledriver to him. The attack was done to write Shinja out of future storylines—this was his final WWF television appearance. No altercation took place between Yankem and Hart before their SummerSlam match, with a scripted feud involving Hart and Jean Pierre Lafitte brewing in preparation for a match between the two at the third In Your House pay-per-view in September. The WWF Women's Championship feud started on the April 3 edition of RAW. Moments after winning the title in a match against Bull Nakano, Alundra Blayze was attacked by an unknown woman, later revealed as Bertha Faye. The attack, in storyline, put Blayze on the sidelines with a broken nose. Faye—with Harvey Whippleman—as her manager, made her in-ring debut on the April 24 edition of RAW, squashing jobber La Pantera Serena. Blayze made her RAW return on the May 29 edition of the show, telling Vince McMahon in an interview segment that she is back after her broken nose and cleared to wrestle. Faye and Whippleman responded to her comments in an interview on the June 3 edition of Superstars of Wrestling. In preparation for their match at SummerSlam, Faye and Blayze wrestled in matches against each other at house shows throughout July. The SummerSlam match between the two was officially announced on the August 7 edition of RAW. Event The first match that aired on pay-per-view was a standard one-on-one match between "heel" wrestler Hakushi and "face" wrestler the 1-2-3 Kid. Both wrestlers performed offensive moves throughout the match, with Hakushi getting the early advantage after performing a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Both wrestlers performed high spots to try and gain advantage. Late on, Kid avoided an oncoming Diving headbutt from Hakushi, which was followed by a serious of offensive moves from Kid. Kid attempted to perform his finisher, the Spinning crescent kick, but Hakushi countered, performing the Nenbutsu bomb. Hakushi pinned Kid for the victory. Hunter Hearst Helmsley versus Bob Holly was the second match on the card. The match marked Helmsley's in-ring pay-per-view debut, with him wrestling as a "heel" and Holly wrestling as a "face". Towards the end of the bout, Holly gained the upper-hand with a series of dropkicks. Holly attempted to toss Helmsley into the corner, but Helmsley reversed, performing his Pedigree finisher to win the contest. (Bart on the left; Billy on the right), who faced The Blu Brothers at SummerSlam 1995]] A tag team match was next on the undercard as Bart and Billy Gunn, known collectively as The Smoking Gunns, faced The Blu Brothers made up of Jacob and Eli Blu, with manager Uncle Zebekiah ringside. The Smoking Gunns were portrayed as "face" wrestlers, with The Blu Brothers portrayed as "heel" wrestlers. The Blu Brothers held the advantage for the majority of the contest, with the tandem making quick tags to work over Billy. Billy eventually made the hot tag to his partner, Bart, who gained the advantage, but was booted in the face by Jacob. Bart, however, managed to regain the advantage, pushing Jacob into Eli. Bart followed up with the Sidewinder finisher for the victory. The fourth match was competed between Barry Horowitz and Skip, who was accompanied to the ring by on-screen valet Sunny. Aftermath Lex Luger made his final appearance on WWF TV in the main event (where he prevented Sir Mo from further interference) as he jumped ship to World Championship Wrestling the week after SummerSlam. Diesel continued to defend the WWF Championship against Owen Hart, the British Bulldog, and Yokozuna, before Diesel was defeated by Bret Hart for the title at the 1995 Survivor Series. The Undertaker's feud with the Million Dollar Corporation ended, as he moved on to feud with King Mabel. Results Other on-screen talent Category:1995 in wrestling Category:WWE for Extreme Category:SummerSlam Category:Pay-Per-View Events